I support Slay, and all things considered, think he has done a great job as mayor. But he’s just plain wrong on this issue. Perhaps he has a hard time understanding, living in his ritzy south-side nabe, why those who live in constant fear of violent crime might want to take measures to defend themselves. If the mayor has such confidence in the police, why doesn’t he get a nice home in Walnut Park?

What exactly has Slay done that is great??? Please enlighten me. Was it what he has done with crime? Or education? Or how about economic development? How about Ball Park Village?

Between Slay and Irene Smith…………..St. Louis City is screwed. No way around that one.

““I used the sad occasion of the ceremony,” Slay wrote later, “to urge St. Louisans to make every effort to get handguns off our streets.””

If that were the solution, why doesnt the good mayor ask to disarm his police force?

Yes, Nick, you keep saying that, but where’s the beef? Simply believing something and saying so doesn’t make it so. The evidence that owning a gun leads to a reduction in crime is mixed at best. Contrast that with the evidence that many other policies–from community policing to more federal funds for overtime–actually can decrease crime.

Slay’s home address in this case isn’t important. Many people who don’t live in ritzy southside neighborhoods think that Troupe’s position is silly grandstanding.

To answer Mr. Democrat,

I am a convert. After doing some research I now am a full supporter of Mayor Slay. Here is a small list of only some of the accomplishments in the past 7 years.

-More people are moving into the City for the first time in 50 years.
-more than five billion dollars in new investment in neighborhoods in all parts of the City (almost $2 Billion has been invested on the Northside alone)
-City government is operating more efficiently and effectively.
-The City’s credit rating has gone up.
-The city is cleaner thanks to his anti litter efforts
-Crime is going down despite the efforts against the Police by people like Troupe
-$1-million prisoner re-entry program
-The City now spends millions of dollars each year to help low income elderly citizens deal with the extreme heat and extreme cold
-Has reduced homelessnes in St. Louis by 30%
-Created the affordable housing trust
-reduced the lead poisoning rate for children by almost two third from 13.6% to 4.6%
-created the family justice center
-created a summer job program for low income kids after the federal government elinimated summer programs for kids

There is more but this list alone is more than the last three mayors did and more than any folks that have been mentioned to run against Slay would ever dream of doing. Like it or not, he is a good mayor.

Convert,

The crime rate now is higher than when Slay entered office, atleast 15 local schools have closed on his watch, developers are selling the Slayed TIFed land at a profit (which is criminal), outside of downtown Slay has been an utter failure and one can even make an arguement that the downtown development has been below average. Do you know the vacancy rate of downtown lofts?

The re-entry fund is from the state level not the municipal level and Jamilah Nasheed and Rodney Hubbard did the majority of that work, not Slay.

Sure Slay has done a few good things, what Mayor hasn’t outside of Harmon.

I dont see any real leadership that is prepared to lead in St. Louis. There is definitely none at City Hall.

I live in what has been described as the neighborhood with the “highest crime rate.” Although, that is mostly a fiction of statistics, there is still quite a bit of crimes against persons and even more crimes against property in my neighborhood. That being the case, I want fewer, not more, guns on the streets. While I realize that a ban on hand-guns and assault riffles (nothing used for hunting) would not eliminate their presence in our community, a reduction certainly would limit the ability of law-breakers to steal them from law-abiders. And, at the same time reduce the likelihood of being shot within one’s own home, which is greater if there is a gun kept in the home. I did not sign-up to be a cop; I did not receive the appropriate training to be a cop; I don’t want to be a cop. No civilian should want to play cop.

Overall crime in the City of St. Louis is down 10% this year and 15% last year. What is interesting is that the majority of homicides are black on black crime. So I ask Black Democrat, what are you and other African-Americans leaders doing to address this issue? I think it is much easier for you to blame the white mayor than address issues in your own community.

Black Dem…you’re going to blame the Mayor for vacant lofts? People are facing foreclosures across the country. The realstate markets are collapsing and Bush & Co. are bailing out banks and handing them money as if they’re cruising on one of their Republican CEO yachts….Speaking of yachts, that’s the only business that’s booming under the Bush policies of the last 8 years….Yachts sales have tripled since 2003. And people wonder where all the money has gone? And you thought it was in the ritzy southside neighborhoods of Corondelet.

Insider, I am a county resident and I’m proud of it. But I do mentor and help coach at Herbert Hoover Boys club. I fully understand Slay can’t solve all St. Louis problems on his own, but I’m aware that very few blacks have a seat at the table as well. But why is this black/white thing. No where in my post did I indicate that I fault him for being white or make any racial acquisations. Insider you are part of the intergral problem in St. Louis, you look at north St. Louis as though its not the City of St. Louis community……….that’s why St. Louis has fallen from being a great city. If St. Louis stop lookin at itself as black vs white, southside vs northside maybe then something positive could happened, but you my friend showed why St. Louis City is stagnate (well declining) and not making any progress.

Garrison,
I don’t blame Slay for people not moving into the lofts, he cant control that. But I do blame him for giving developers tax credits and incentives for building living occupancies that people aren’t willing to buy.